An ancient Chinese proverb says, "When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills."
In our society, we see entrepreneurs and innovators differently because innovators create new ideas and entrepreneurs turn these ideas into business. However, they are the same at heart, because they are both problem solvers. The writer interviewed such a problem solver, Amitavo Chowdhury, an entrepreneur and executive turned global innovator in the engineering sector.
Like any other field of engineering, it is impossible to discuss ships and other floating vessels without mentioning naval architecture. The task-specific ship or floating vessel is designed by the naval architect to be built safely and effectively. Having completed BSc in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2009, Amitavo Chowdhury is one of the few people who are working in this industry and single-handedly disrupting it with his innovation and dedication towards naval architecture.
Usually, we see students pursue a master's or PhD abroad after graduating from BUET but Amitavo Chowdhury decided to opt for entrepreneurship and follow his passion for ship designing.
Involved in multiple ventures, Amitavo started his career in a new company called 'Shipdyn', a company he himself named as he was a founding employee. Shipdyn was being set up by Ornate Group of companies from Europe. However, it was a time of European recession, and ShipDyn stopped operating.
For the time being, Amitavo tried his luck and held jobs in other sectors, as a news presenter and sports commentator. Amitavo looked for other opportunities during difficult times and he said, "Young people should explore alternative career opportunities rather than getting depressed or leaving the countryduring turbulent times."
Amitavo advises the younger generation to work on their passion projects along with having a stable income flow through a job or a career. Among his other explorations is another story worth mentioning that reflects an entrepreneurial passion of an engineer. During the early 2010s, Amitavo's car broke down, and he found only one car repair shop in the vicinity. Being the only car repair shop around, he had to pay double the price to repair his car. Frustrated by this monopolistic behaviour, Amitavo decided to open his own car repair workshop, and it's running successfully to date. Meanwhile, Amitavo worked in other ship design companies and later acquired ShipDyn from Ornate to restart the company. Currently, he is the Managing Director of ShipDyn.
Amitavo started to get recognition in the industry and due to his expertise in river dredging, he is regularly called for inspection. Dredging clears the waterway of deposits that have accumulated below the surface so that ships may pass. It also provides enough room to build crucial bridges, dykes, and dams. He alsoserves as the chief executive officer of SQL Engineers, which is an engineering consulting firm specialising in dredging.
During one of his project inspections in Narayanganj, he travelled by motorboat and noticed how the ship beside him was producing huge river currents, which were strong enough to flip the motorboat he was on. The fear of losing his life led to the innovation of Y-Hull, a ground-breaking ship design that reduces the waves generated by the ship's hull and reduces bank erosion and fuel consumption by 25 per cent. Y-Hull is a new type of ship hull that he patented from IPOS in Singapore in a very short period of time. He had to take a massive financial and psychological risk to pursue his innovation. According to Amitavo, "Risk-taking is a fundamental part of being an entrepreneur." He had his own eureka moment when his special ship sailed on the water body without any hindrance.
His most difficult endeavour to date was building the Y-Hull. It was challenging to develop the design of the Y-Hull because the majority of ship design software works with the Mono Hull and Catamaran only. As a result, Amitavo designed the ship on pen and paper at first and developed it in the most unconventional way to bring his theory to life.
His self-sufficiency keeps him going and he has a growth mindset. This led Amitavo to oversaee the design of more than 150 ships and the construction of more than 70 ships. He owns the first patent in the global ship design business in twenty years for a new type of ship design. In a seminar hosted by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), UK, one of the most prestigious organisations in the world presented naval architects. The chair of the seminar was Dr Stephen Payne, who designed The Queen Marry II ship. Amitavo presented his invention in the seminar and was applauded by Dr Stephen himself for this innovative design. Amitavo is eager to bring his patent to widespread commercialisation, which is going to improve the ship designing industry on a worldwide scale.
Naval architecture is on the rise around the world. The public sector businesses are leading the way as the industry picks up speed in our neighbouring countries such as India. Many nations now need more ships and different types of water vehicles particularly for coastal security and tourism. In 2021, the market for naval vessels was alone worth US$ 74 billion. Mordor Intelligence predicts it will reach US$ 253 billion by 2031. A significant increase is anticipated in both North America and Asia-Pacific during the projection period.
Amitavo believes in finding opportunities even in the most narrowed-down sectors. He also actively takes steps to mitigate the gender gap in the field of naval architecture through encouragement and training. Amitavo said, "Graduate engineers can start their entrepreneurial journey along with a job since there are project based design outsourcing opportunities that engineers can look for to build their venture gradually." Amitavo's work ethic is fueled by his passion for innovation and entrepreneurial mindset, which he believes can serve as an inspiration for the upcoming generation who want to pursue naval architecture. All in all, he believes and advises youngsters around him to persist for their goals.
The writer is a startup enthusiast and works as a business analyst in Selise Digital Platforms.
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